1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to apparatus for facilitating the donning and removal of elastomeric gloves. More particularly, the apparatus relates to the use of vacuum pressure which inflates the gloves to facilitate the donning and removal of the gloves. Importantly, the apparatus allows the user to control the level of vacuum pressure needed to inflate the gloves.
2. Background of the Invention
Gloves are becoming increasingly indispensable in many areas of today's working world. There is a growing awareness of the necessity of gloves for sanitary reasons, for prevention of the spread of AIDS and other diseases, and for general cleanliness and protection.
In the medical field, personnel such as surgeons, nurses, paramedics, and dentists, working in emergency rooms, intensive care units, dental offices, and many other similar health care environments, are all regularly required to use elastic examination gloves to stop the spread of infectious organisms, from the infected patient to the attendant or from the attendant to other patients. The busy schedules of these professionals and the crucial nature of their work require that their time not be unnecessarily wasted in donning and removing the gloves.
In addition to the medical field, other fields such as food handling and preparation and chemical and biotechnical research are rapidly realizing the need for protection against product and/or worker contamination.
In many restaurants, fast-food operations, and other places where food is handled, the use of gloves is essential to preventing contamination of food. In these places, contamination can be disastrous because of the large number of people served each day. Unfortunately, it is difficult and time-consuming to don the necessary elastic gloves. Since "fast" food service is what is promised by most places today, there is usually no extra time to waste struggling with donning and removing gloves.
Another problem today is the expense of having to use new gloves each time gloves are needed. In some applications the same glove may be safely reused. However, it is difficult to remove the glove without inverting it or without touching its exterior surface. Efforts to do so often result in tearing of the glove or otherwise rendering the glove unusable.
Although various attempts to solve these problems have been made by those skilled in the art, to date there has not been devised an apparatus that has fully succeeded in solving the foregoing glove-donning and removing problems.
One approach to solve these problems has been to use a vacuum system in which vacuum pressure causes the glove to inflate, allowing the user to insert his or her hand into the glove without difficulty. However, the amount of vacuum pressure necessary to properly inflate the glove varies depending on the altitude at which the device is being used. Unfortunately, the existing devices using a vacuum system do not have means for controlling the amount of vacuum pressure applied. Thus, the devices can only function properly in areas which match the size and power output of the vacuum pump. For example, a device made to be used effectively within the Rocky Mountain states would not function effectively near sea level. Problems such as underinflation, overinflation, or inflation of only the palm area of the glove often arise.
An additional problem with these devices now in the art is the small hand area in which the vacuum is created. Most of the devices provide a cylindrical vacuum area in which larger hands cannot be outstretched comfortably. Therefore, a single prior art device cannot be used for both women with small hands and men with much larger hands. In addition, a device which adequately inflates gloves for a small woman's hand would not adequately inflate gloves for a large man's hand.
Another problem with many devices now in the art is the difficulty of maintaining and cleaning the devices. A device with removable parts, which can be assembled and disassembled with ease, would greatly facilitate cleaning and would be beneficial to the users to whom efficiency as well as cleanliness is crucial.
Yet another problem with many existing devices is the need for two hands or an assistant to apply or remove the gloves. This is particularly a problem for handicapped or injured people who do not have the use of both hands. These people cannot don or remove gloves by themselves. They are forced to wait for assistance. A worker who has one hand occupied is in the same position. In order to don the glove, he must either set down whatever he is holding, or again wait for assistance. Many times, both options are either inconvenient or even impossible.
One example of this is in the medical profession, where someone might find it impossible to set down the object he or she is holding because of risk of infection or risk of damage to the object. He or she might find that waiting for assistance is also impossible. At times, having to wait could mean the difference between minor and major injury or possibly even the difference between life and death.
Another example is in the fast food industry. A worker may not wish to stop performing with one hand whatever task he or she is performing, or, if a worker is holding food in one hand, it may be unsanitary to set it down while donning a new glove. Furthermore, the need to wait for assistance defeats the object of "fast" food.
Additionally, there are instances where only one glove is needed. In several existing devices, both hands must be gloved at the same time. These devices do not have the option for donning a glove onto only one hand.
In view of the foregoing, it would be an advance in the art to provide an apparatus for quick, easy, and convenient donning and removing of elastomeric gloves for which only one hand is needed for its use. It would be a further advance in the art to provide an apparatus for removing gloves which does not tear or invert the gloves such that the gloves can be easily reused.
An additional important advance in the art would be to provide a vacuum operated apparatus for donning and removing gloves in which the amount of vacuum pressure can be controlled so that the device can be used in different altitudes, and so that additional glove inflation is provided for users with larger hands.
It would be another significant advance in the art to provide an apparatus for donning and removing gloves in which the glove application area is large enough to comfortably fit larger hands with fingers outstretched, so that one single device can be used for people of all hand sizes. It would also be an advance to provide ambidextrous glove donning and removing apparatus such that one apparatus can be used for the right or left hand and for gloves that can fit either hand.
Still another important advance in the art would be to provide apparatus for donning and removing gloves which facilitates internal maintenance and cleaning of the apparatus.
Such apparatus and methods for donning and removing gloves are disclosed and claimed herein.